8 Cheapest Cars Of The 1980s, And One Was The Most Dangerous

In 1980, you could drive a brand new car off the lot for under $3,800. But the cheapest car in America wasn't just bare bones, it was the defendant in the first criminal trial of a corporation in U.S. history. This is the story of the 8 cheapest American cars of the 1980s: a Cavalier that shared its platform with a $12,000 Cadillac disaster, a Renault that won Car of the Year before its parent company collapsed, a Dodge hatchback rebuilt by Carroll Shelby into a Porsche-beating pocket rocket, the K-car that saved Chrysler from bankruptcy, and the Ford Pinto, the cheapest car of all, and the most infamous.